Promotional preview for Galaxy S5 and Note 3 - Essay Example

Advertising and Promotional Communication for Galaxy S5 and 3 While formulating a brand marketing strategy, advertising and promotional communication is a very important part of the plan. On the same note, the cultural experience of the millions of consumers has to be in mind because it is a very significant part too. Merging the two perspectives of advertising and promotional communication has a very strong impact on the output that the strategy will yield. Market Analysis A cultural angle to advertising creates awareness of product by tagging at the heartstrings of the consumers through their traditions and norms. The target group may be diverse but there is always a constant factor that joins them. This can be termed as a tradition. Advertising can trigger powerful insight if it is in line with the traditions of the target audience. The advertising is to be approached from a managerial point of view. This closely looks into a deeper examination of the advertising strategies (Gifford, 2006, p. 38). Advertising is the pillar of brand marketing and it has to have a strategy in order to reach the consumers. The main aim of advertising is to keep the memory of the brand alive with catchy phrases and slogans. Most people ignore advertisements but without knowing it, it sinks deeper into them. During shopping is when most it hits most consumers how much they can remember about a product (Dayal & Raipal 1996, p. 1-21). The most aggressive advertisement or promotion always takes the day. Creativity and aggression are what get most advertisers far. Most marketers are always looking for a new way to reach the public. With advertising being a very dynamic field, there is always an improvement of methods. With the advent of new technology, advertisement goes to a whole new level in a very short time. There has to be a much defined strategy that embraces this diversity and at the same time does not deviate from what the client stands for. In this study, we will pick a well-known product. Samsung is a brand that many people are familiar with most people. Samsung is a company that has different categories for its different products. It is well known for home appliances, phones and phone accessories, computers and printers. Samsung has been dominating the market for a very long time and no company survives this long without a proper marketing strategy (Hackley, 2005, p. 82). The paper is aimed at focussing on one of the branches of Samsung and see how its advertisement and promotional communication can be handled. At this time, the phone and phone accessories section of Samsung is the most advertised and publicised section. A good advertising strategy has to be derived from a former success or failure. Human beings are comparative in nature and always seek to weigh the options at hand. If the options seem better than before then they gladly go for it. The Korean company spends a lot of money on its advertisements. Samsung sponsors Chelsea Football and has gone ahead to globalise its brand in many other ways. The paper is going to look at where Samsung has come from and what will take it into the future without being irrelevant at some point (OReilly, 2013). Review of Samsung and findings Samsung has launched many mobile products over the years which have seen it grow with the times. The mobile phone technology has grown from the use of buttons to full touch screen phones and accessories. The Korean company has been at the fore front of technology and has ended up selling products worldwide. This is because their target market is not only Korean but worldwide. The company has ventured massively into the android technology since it has started and has come up with the Galaxy series. The galaxy series comes in different categories. There is the S series of high end phones, Note series of the phablets with added stylus functionality and the tablet series (V., 2013). This does not leave out the PRO, Wonder, Royal, Magical and Young for every type of target market. The marketing strategy for the different series of phones is different because of the kind of target market they have been manufactured for. The flagship projects of the high end phones in the S, Note and PRO series have always been put at the forefront. In the S series, S2 and S1 were not given much voice but when the S3 was launched, it turned around everything and the attention was diverted to it. Apple, Samsung’s greatest rival, also had to come up with something to please its market in order to stay relevant in the market. That period saw the launch of iPhone 5. Samsung did not stop there and after a short while, there was the S4 that revolutionised the whole market. The new galaxy phone has four key features that are loosely based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in order to humanise the phone and make sure the market knows what it misses without an S4- “a better quality life”. The model comes with a branding ‘Human Companion’ and has caught the attention of many consumers. The four ‘human’ elements of Samsung Galaxy S4 campaign are: Togetherness To Samsung, building of relationships and communication is the core functionality of the phone. Introduction of Group Play and S-Translator have been seen to be very useful in the day to day lives of most people. Meaningful moments People always have a need to capture the moment and the S4 has a Dual Camera function, Story Album and Sound & Shot functions that are of use when very important moments need to be captured. Simplifying everyday tasks Consumers look to have the most convenience in a device. Samsung noted the problems that most consumers encounter and made sure that they have introduced Smart Pause eye tracking video function, S Voice Drive control and Air View/ Gesture, which allows the user to control the device without having to touch it. Health The phone’s health is very vital to the consumer considering that it is a high end phone. Samsung introduced S-Health fitness tracker app and Adapt Display that automatically adjusts the display according to the external lighting. This protects the user’s eyes from straining in daylight and too much screen light in the dark. The lesson to be learnt here is that Samsung used the emotional connection most human beings make with their devices (OReilly 2013, p. 28). For the next several flagships that Samsung will be launching, there is bound to be an emotional connection with the user. More user-friendly user interfaces have made them a number one seller across the globe. Getting to the top may be easy but staying there needs and advertising and promotion strategy (O’Guinn, Allen & Semenik 2012, p. 534). Future Plans and Strategies Samsung has 2 other flagship projects underway that are bound to take the market by storm: the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Note 3 plus Gear. The various specifications of the Galaxy S5 include: the LTE device uses a micro-sim and has been built to be water proof and dust proof and can function in depths of up to 1 meter for 30 minutes. The finger print sensor has been approved by PayPal and can be used for online transactions. With such key features in mind, a marketing strategy quickly gets structured. Most networks are advancing to 4G services and very few phones support LTE. A deal can be made with phone service providers to ensure that as they progress into the 4G services, they move with their clients. The launch may start with discounts and once the product has taken root in the consumer networks it can maintain its desired pricing. Launching such a prestigious flagship project may need a lot of deal brokering and funds to say the least but the returns will be many. Media Plan Most mobile phone users need a phone that can be used in any weather, rain or shine. With the features of the S5, popular artists can be used to market that feature through their songs and publicity. If for instance the phone is shown being used in the rain, shower or in the swimming pool, this will send a very big message to the consumers who have their preferences leaning towards that end. Accidents do happen and the S5 is a very expensive phone. Losing it to a little wet incident will be a very big pain. This can be used to reach out to most users that they do not have to worry about kids destroying the device with saliva or dropping it in water while playing with it. The angle to be used can be of how much is bound to be saved with the almost indestructible phone. A lot of savings will be incurred on the consumer by reducing the need to buy cumbersome protective covers. PayPal is a globally recognised online transaction agency. With the introduction of the finger print sensor that is compatible with PayPal, most users will want to buy the phone. PayPal can help with the advertising and by communicating to its clients how easy making a transaction can be through the gadget, it will have done its end of the deal. Not only will the S5 clients rush to join PayPal but also the vice versa. With these key features that make it stand out, it makes it easy to market it and make a big sale. The other big launch is the Note 3 plus gear. These are two devices that Samsung has chosen to introduce jointly. The two work tandem to give the consumer a feel of comfort. The Note 3 is a successor of Note 2 and has been designed to have a lighter, and a classier design that the former models in the Note series. It comes with a plastic leather backing and faux metallic bezel. The stylus functionality has been expanded and the phone has multitasking oriented functionality software. The pen-enabled apps have a new navigation wheel. The device also has pop up apps and an expanded multi-window functionality. The Galaxy Note 3 is the first smartphone to include support for USB 3.0, which makes it capable of faster data transfers and charging when connected to a compatible port on a PC. The phone was launched in September, 2013 and recorded a sale of 5 million units in the first month and this made it very easy to break a 10 million record in 2 months. The phablet has been structured for business men and most of the marketing strategies involve including the galaxy gear in the package. Galaxy gear so far only works with the Note 3 but software updates are bound to accommodate most of the other high end phones. It is a gadget that is made to work together with the device it is connected to. It complements the Note 3 with its extra features. It has an inbuilt camera and speaker and a Super-Amoled screen that enables easy reading from a normal distance. Figure 1 Galaxy Gear Marketing Plan Marketing the two at a go makes it easy to attract the business class market. The advertising strategy can involve a Note 3 user in a corporate meeting and since the Note 3 can be a little too big to get out of the pocket and check the emails, the emails can easily be read on the gear. A little show of how they work together will go a long way to convince buyers to get the two together. Checking the time on the phablet can be a little hectic and the simpler way out will be through the Galaxy gear (V., 2013). Budget Breakdown The cost of advertising the two gadgets will be incurred on very many levels. The Samsung branches worldwide will be responsible for the local mainstream media advertisement. Main stream media is the common media that everyone has access to e.g. bill boards, radio and television. Web adverts are often very efficient and promotional ads on social media platform. This will cost up to 10 million dollars worldwide but the awareness will make returns that will double or triple the cost incurred. Recommendations The specifications of these products need to be known to the public for them to relate well with them. The human connection and the culture are the two aspects that were focussed on while manufacturing the devices and it is only fair to include the same strategy while promoting it (OReilly 2013). Most people want a device that fits around their daily lives and makes it easier for them to operate. These Samsung devices have been offering these wide services as they evolve with time. Advertising for them makes it easier as their innovations are way into the future. They create needs that are not even realised by their consumers. Such a trend and proper promotional communication is bound to render Samsung a best seller for a long time (O’Guinn, Allen &Semenik 2012, p. 534). References Anon., 2013. GSM Arena. [Online] Available at: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note_3-5665.php Anon., 2013. GSM Arena. [Online] Available at: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s5-6033.php Dayal, R., Zachariah, P., &Rajpal, K. (1996). Advertising and promotion management. New Delhi, Mittal Publications. Gifford, C. (2006). Advertising & marketing: developing the marketplace. Chicago, IL, Heinemann Library. Hackley, C. (2005). Advertising and promotion: communicating brands. London [u.a.], SAGE. OGuinn, T. C., Allen, C. T., &Semenik, R. J. (2012). Advertising and integrated brand promotion. Mason, OH, South-Western, Cengage Learning. OReilly, L., 2013. Marketing Week.Samsung preps even bigger campaign for Galaxy S4. [Online] Available at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/samsung-preps-even-bigger-campaign-for-galaxy-s4/4006037.article V., J., 2013. Phonearena.com. [Online] Available at: http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/Samsung-Galaxy-Gear-Review_id3441 Read More